Pages

Korea and Jeju - Day 4

19:44

Day 4:

It was a wonder I managed to sleep at
all in that creepy room. Thank goodness there were no more disturbances in the
middle of the night. And apparently, it was the film site for the Korean drama
"Spy Myung Wol". Really? (I've only watched the first episode. Nope.
I still don't like the place despite it being a shooting site for that drama.)

Breakfast at Resom Spa Castle was by
far the worst breakfast I've ever had. They had scrambled eggs, plain buns with
butter and strawberry jam, a sausage, and a few pathetic scraps of broccoli and
cherry tomatoes lying on a huge platter. The eggs were too bland, and the
portions too small for a normal adult who isn't anorexic.

I was only looking forward to
the spa in the morning. Based on the descriptions given
in our travel brochure, it stated that "its spa uses only pure Deoksan
mineral water" and it has "a variety of spa facilities including hot
springs from all over the world and outdoor leisure activities". Well, I
suppose it would be a novel experience... to go for a spa stark naked.

Due to the "No photography
allowed" rule, that was the only shot I managed to get of the exterior of
the spa place. Basically, the facilities just include 3 indoor pools with the
Deoksan mineral water (around 40 Degrees Celsius), some heated stone floors, a
few sauna rooms and other random pools scattered around the place.

It felt so weird seeing people
prancing around in their birthday suits... Uh, not really prancing around but
it's just plain awkward seeing how our conservative Singaporean tour mates
wrapping themselves up in layers and layers of towels provided. We totally
ignored the rules on not bringing in towels into the spa area and used them to
cover up. GUILTY.

After 20 minutes of "boiling myself"
red in the hot spa, it was time to explore the outdoor area! BOY, it was
freezing walking out into 18 Degrees Celsius temperature (it was really early
in the morning!) in a bikini. Immediately, I dunked myself in the pool and the
feeling of warmth that enveloped me was simply blissful. Then, I saw dead
insects floating around in the pool. 0___O Do they even maintain the area? I
scrambled out, and ran back into the indoor area. The slides and winding spa
rivers aren't that appealing to me anymore. The indoor spa facilities are just
like Jacuzzis. Boring.

We spent a rather short time before
heading back to the showers. It was rather interesting to note that they had a
whole series of hair products and face products like toners and moisturizers
for post-shower care. They also had spin-dry machines for your wet clothes.

Resom Spa Castle was really situated in this deserted place!

We left Resom Spa Castle for Agroland,
a farm!

To city kids like us, the prospect of
visiting a farm left us all squealing with excitement and delight. We got off
the bus and the stink of "shotong" assailed us. (If you've been
following my previous posts, you'd know that shotong means cow dung in Korean.)

First up: feeding of cows!

Each of us were given a mini tray of
hay to feed the cows. They were HUMONGOUS, and I was slightly intimidated by
their horns. The way their tongues licked the hay from the tray, and the way
they chewed so close to my hand made me feel like keeping my hands as far away
as their mouths as possible.

Then we fed the goats and their kids.

And we fed calves milk. They seemed
starved and all of them swarmed towards anyone who was holding a milk bottle.
This poor calf even had to resort to headbutting the other one next to it to
get closer to the milk. They were so eager that they literally drooled when
sucking from the bottle.

I spotted a miniature baby pig in a
small cage beside the cow milking area. It was snorting, squealing and wailing
in discomfort when the staff picked it up. Awww... it was so tiny and way too
adorable.

The cow milking experience was
similar to that in Australia, where you ring two fingers (your thumb and index
finger), and use the other three to squeeze/pull down on the cow's udder.

Later on, we went on a tractor ride
and spotted cute donkeys, llamas, sheep, horses and other farm animals.

This particular llama tried racing
with our tractor, trotted alongside us and kept staring at our cameras. haha.
What a poser/attention seeker.

Then we went to make some ice-cream!

We required two bowls, one big and
one small. The big bowl contained salt and chunks of ice (salt lowers the melting
point of ice, so it'll be at a low enough temperature to freeze the milk). The
smaller bowl would contain our banana-flavoured milk.

While my brother shook the bowls and
mixed the ice/salt, I had to stir the milk. It took a really long time to make
the ice-cream solidify. It tasted pretty good though. =)

We left Agroland for lunch before
flying off to Jeju Island.

It was bbq again, but the bean paste
which we dipped the meat into was awesome. The meat was thinly sliced and
really fresh. When the meat turns slightly goldenish-yellow, it would be ready
for consumption. Once again, I wrapped the meat and kimchi in the lettuce
leaves. OMNOMNOM.

We took Jinair, the budget domestic
flight from Gimpo Airport to Jeju.

Passengers had to take a bus from the
boarding gate to the plane on the runway. I managed to sneak this photo before
the airport staff told me that no photos were allowed. HEH.

Jeju is known as the Hawaii of Korea,
where newly-wed couples go for their honeymoons there. The island is completely
formed from volcanic rock and it's very windy there. Jullie, our guide,
mentioned that it was a lot of wind, a lot of rocks and a lot of women! (Ratio
of females to males is 4:1 there.) Native Jeju people are descended from the
Chinese, unlike Koreans who are descended from Mongolians. Their facial
features would be enough to tell them apart (provided no plastic surgery was
done.)

First stop: Mysterious
Road, where vehicles could travel forward "uphill" with
the engine turned off. Actually, it's just an optical illusion where the road
seems to be going uphill when it's downhill. The sloping of the
surroundings contributed to the illusion of items defying the laws of gravity
on that stretch of road.

2nd Stop: Trick art museum
and Ice gallery.

It was really hard chiseling our own
ice cups. My hand were freezing by the time I completed my "masterpiece".
The staff made it seem so easy but I was struggling just to chip off the ice.

I'm sorry my artwork is too hideous
to be able to be put on display. I tried, I really did. It was supposed to be a
cup with a gaping smiley face. When I poured orange juice to drink from the
cup, it looked like it had orange brains. hahaha.

We entered the ice gallery after the
hands-on experience and we were all provided with blankets for it was simply
too cold in the gallery! My nose and ears were red from the below-zero Degrees
Celsius temperature.

Yes, you didn't see it wrongly. They
literally had an ice slide. I slipped and fell on my butt when I tried to slide
down it. OUCH. Sadistic little kids laughed at me. >: (

Then I managed to properly slide down
on my second try, but I really froze my butt off (though they had a cushion
which provided little insulation). I scuttled out of the place for I couldn't
stand the cold any longer. My sister had very aptly started singing Frozen's
songs when we went in.

I suppose more time should be spent
in the Trick Art Museum instead.

I pulled a beetle out!

Rubbing shoulders with the big guys.
Hello Jobs.

I'm a cool surfer!

My sis' a midget and I'm a giant.
HAH.

Girls' Generation and me (the extra)

After doing crazy poses and fooling
around in the museum, we went for a scrumptious seafood dinner, complete with
live abalone, octopus, sashimi, prawns and etc. The abalone squirmed when I
prodded it with my chopsticks. It was really fresh, chewy and didn't smell
fishy at all. Instead, it felt rather clean. =) For people who aren't daring
enough to try out the live abalone, they had the option of boiling it in the
steamboat (which was what my siblings did). The restaurant also served baked
abalone.

I even tried the live octopus. The
ahjumma (auntie) of the restaurant stuck a tentacle into my mouth and snipped
it off from the octopus using scissors (don't worry, the tentacles will grow
again.) The suction pads stuck to my mouth and I had to pull it off while
chewing on it. It was still wriggling in my mouth! EURGH. Though it was
slightly disturbing, I think it was great experience. I should do more of such
weird crazy things when I'm still young!

In the end, the food was simply too
much and we couldn't finish everything (even with my brother's huge appetite).

We rested for the night at Jeju
Oriental Hotel (5 star) and it even had a casino in its lobby! Casinos are
everywhere in Jeju. According to our tour guide, Jeju has 17 casinos in total,
and Koreans aren't granted entry. I was so dismayed to hear that the minimum
age for entering a casino is 19 in Korea. Why am I always underage? =( When I
went Macau, I was 17 and the minimum age was 18. Now, I'm 18 but the minimum
age is 19! I suppose I'm just not fated to explore casinos. (My parents are
secretly glad. I bet my dad think's I'm a compulsive gambler at heart. HAH. As
if.)

The hotel room was cozy and nice. I
fell asleep right after sinking into the soft pillows. Sweet dreams.